The Hidden Risks of Legal Translation: What You Need to Know
Have you ever thought about the impact of small nuances in translation on the legal meaning of a document? Contract translation requires a deep understanding of legal terminology and the specific laws in the countries of both the source and target languages.
Literal translation can lead to serious misunderstandings or even invalidate a contract. Here are a few core things to beware of:
In legal documents, the placement of commas, semicolons, and quotation marks can change the entire meaning of a sentence.
- Numbers and formatting.
Did you know different languages format numbers differently? For example, “three hundred thousand point twenty” is written as:
- 300,000.20 (U.S. English)
- 3,00,000.20 (Indian English)
- 000,20 (Portuguese)
- False friends
Some words look or sound similar in different languages but have totally different meanings. Thus, the English word “execute” has a false friend in Portuguese - "executar," which means "perform a contract." The term for "sign a contract" would be "celebrar."
- Legal jargon
Contracts often use phrases like “alter or amend” and “true and correct” due to legal tradition. In some languages, there’s no need to translate both words, but removing one without understanding the legal impact can be risky.
KLS Agency and I will help you attain 100% accuracy in translating your contracts!